A variety of "tamper proof", "tamper resistant" and "tamper evident" closures and seals have been disclosed and proposed for inhibiting improper or unauthorized opening of containers, or more importantly, to indicate to the ultimate consumer that such an opening has occurred. The main thrust behind this deluge of "tamper proof" or "tamper evident" closures is to protect consumers against third party tampering with the contents of the container, such as food or medicine, by placing them on notice or making it obvious to the consumers that such tampering may have occurred.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,037 to Rhees, a tamper evident seal is disclosed and claimed. The seal includes a sheet of material secured over the opening of the container with the peripheral portions of the material extending downwardly about and adhering to the exterior of the side walls of neck.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,016,936 to Waring, a re-seal type closure for a container is disclosed. The container closure comprises a re-seal cap and an inner disk seal, wherein a continuous uniform bond is formed within the edge of the material of the inner disk seal and the imperforate portion of this disk spans the mouth of the container. Application of a lifting stress to remove the disk from the top of the container results in the tearing of the disk to perforate or puncture the portion of the disk across the neck of the container.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,196 to Bashour, a cap for a bottle is disclosed which has a top portion for covering the open mouth of the bottle and two spaced rings extending therefrom to define a groove to receive an annular lip portion of the bottle. One of the rings can be angled toward the other and be flexible such that the lip of the bottle is fully grasped and maintained in the groove. The radially outer ring of the cap is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced weakened areas so that when the cap is removed from the bottle the outer ring will tear at at least one of the weakened areas to identify when a cap has become unsealed from its bottle.
Numerous attempts have been made over the years to provide tamper evident closures for packages which provide the consumer with some degree of comfort. The presently claimed invention provides such comfort by incorporating a means to render a heat or adhesive sealed liner more tamper evident by enabling the liner to tear upon removal while providing a seal which, upon peeling, is totally removed from the container without leaving any seal residue which the consumer needs to remove prior to recycling of the container.